House Tour

This is my front porch. My house, at 626 Orange St, in Elgin, will be open for the 31st annual Gifford Park Association Historic House Tour on September 8, 2012, from 9:00AM to 5:00PM. My house is a Sears Craftsman Bungalow, built in 1927, restored in 1997 to its original glory.

31st Annual Historic Elgin House Tour

The Gifford Park Association (GPA) is celebrating its 31st Annual Historic House Tour which will take place on Saturday, September 8, 2012. Each year, the House Tour features a different historic neighborhood of Elgin. This year the GPA is very excited to feature six homes in the SWAN neighborhood. SWAN stands for Southwest Area Neighborhood and takes in the area south of Walnut, north of route 20, west of the river and east of Commonwealth. The Annual Historic Elgin House Tour is an educational event that offers something for everyone. There’s architecture, history, home remodeling, interior decorating, gardening and more. The interior tours of the homes are guided and interpreted. The houses may be toured in any order. Wear comfortable shoes & allow yourself the full day to see all of the homes. Advance Tickets will be available at advance locations, by mail and online at a reduced rates. Tickets are also available at registration the day of the Tour. Advance tickets are $15, day of Tour are $20. 12 years and under and over 65 are $10 in advance and the day of the Tour. For additional information contact Bill Briska at 847-695-4022 or via e-mail at billbriska@cs.com

In addition to my house, there will be 5 other houses in my neighborhood on the tour

There are 3 other bungalows: 630 Oak St. Another Sears bungalow, the Del Rey, built in 1925. The Del Rey is modeled after the original California bungalows. The low-pitched roof is a defining characteristic of bungalows. 356 Jewett St., built in 1924. The clipped gable or jerkinhead roof is a hallmark of a Craftsman bungalow. The 4 over 1 windows are typical of the era. 313 Perry, built in 1915 Hipped roof with a hipped roof dormer and full width front porch is a popular bungalow subtype. 400 Walnut Ave, built in 1911 The American Foursquare is another popular early 20th century architectural style. 2 to 2 1/2 stories tall, they always had a hipped or pyramidal roof with overhangs. This high-style house features several bay windows (untypical), a sleeping porch, and 4 over 1 windows. 331 Griswold, built in 1893 Queen Anne style mansion designed by W.W. Abell, a well-known local architect. It is rated as “Significant”– a high-style architectural house in the Historic Neighborhood Survey conducted in 2002. It is defined by asymmetry, gables, dormers, a tower, and a wrap-around porch. There are rooms on all three floors.

Hope to see all of you who live in the Chicago area at the SWAN Historic House Tour on Saturday, September 8, 2012 from 9:00 to 5:00.